What's Required Referral of students for a full and individual initial evaluation for possible special education services shall be a part of the district's overall, general education referral or screening system. Prior to referral, students experiencing difficulty in the general classroom should be considered for all support services available to all students, such as tutorial; remedial; compensatory; response to scientific, research-based intervention; and other academic or behavior support services. If the student continues to experience difficulty in the general classroom after the provision of interventions, district personnel must refer the student for a full and individual initial evaluation (19 TAC 89.1011). This referral for a full and individual initial evaluation may be initiated by school personnel, the student's parent, legal guardian, or another person involved in the education/care of the student.
What We Do
Purpose and Process
An Intervention Assistance Team (IAT) is a group of educators with diverse training and experience who convene regularly to discuss, problem solve, and coordinate early intervention efforts for struggling students within the campus’ Response to Intervention (RTI) process in order to prevent needless referrals to special education.
The IAT should establish regularly scheduled meetings to ensure that assistance and recommendations are provided to the teacher, student, and parent. The team may meet to discuss any of the following issues: academic, social, behavioral, and emotional.
After specific interventions have been tried, the IAT should document interventions provided in the Student Information System and monitor the student’s response to these interventions to understand the level of support the student needs. The student’s response to intervention will be reviewed before referring for evaluation.
The IAT also serves the role of “finding” those students who may have a disability. While early intervention is critical in most cases, the IAT should never use the RTI process to delay a special education referral when the student is truly in need of special education support.
The campus IAT chairperson should always include the Evaluation Specialist and Licensed Specialist in School Psychology if behavioral issues are a concern, and/or speech therapist if language or speech is a concern in the IAT process before a special education referral is completed. However, no one person should make a unilateral decision to refer a student for Special Education/Section 504 evaluation or to refuse a referral for Special Education/Section 504 evaluation. All referral decisions must be made by IAT as a group.
Students suspected of a developmental delay, health condition, vision impairments, hearing impairments or an intellectual disability are most likely not good candidates for the RTI process. These students can be referred for special education evaluation without first attempting RTI.
Participants
The composition of an IAT is not specified in law. The team can include the following personnel:
Campus administrator or designee
Evaluation Specialist, Licensed Specialist in School Psychology, Speech/Language Pathologist, Occupational/Physical Therapist, and other relevant specialists. Special Education personnel are a valuable resource in distinguishing between a learning difference and a potential disability.
Classroom teacher
Parent, nurse, counselor, social worker
Goals of IAT
To intervene early before academic and behavioral issues interfere with learning.
To raise the level of understanding among all staff about student needs and their effects on learning and teaching.
To support teachers to meet the needs of each student in accessing grade level curriculum.
To monitor the effectiveness of interventions provided through the campus’ RTI process.
To provide a uniform and consistent system for addressing the needs of all students.
To objectively identify student’s academic and behavioral needs based on universal screeners and other classroom and parent data.
To provide a systematic vehicle for school staff to refer students experiencing substantial behavioral or academic difficulties for a Section 504 or special education evaluation.
What's Required
Referral of students for a full and individual initial evaluation for possible special education services shall be a part of the district's overall, general education referral or screening system. Prior to referral, students experiencing difficulty in the general classroom should be considered for all support services available to all students, such as tutorial; remedial; compensatory; response to scientific, research-based intervention; and other academic or behavior support services. If the student continues to experience difficulty in the general classroom after the provision of interventions, district personnel must refer the student for a full and individual initial evaluation (19 TAC 89.1011). This referral for a full and individual initial evaluation may be initiated by school personnel, the student's parent, legal guardian, or another person involved in the education/care of the student.
What We Do
Purpose and Process
An Intervention Assistance Team (IAT) is a group of educators with diverse training and experience who convene regularly to discuss, problem solve, and coordinate early intervention efforts for struggling students within the campus’ Response to Intervention (RTI) process in order to prevent needless referrals to special education.
The IAT should establish regularly scheduled meetings to ensure that assistance and recommendations are provided to the teacher, student, and parent. The team may meet to discuss any of the following issues: academic, social, behavioral, and emotional.
After specific interventions have been tried, the IAT should document interventions provided in the Student Information System and monitor the student’s response to these interventions to understand the level of support the student needs. The student’s response to intervention will be reviewed before referring for evaluation.
The IAT also serves the role of “finding” those students who may have a disability. While early intervention is critical in most cases, the IAT should never use the RTI process to delay a special education referral when the student is truly in need of special education support.
The campus IAT chairperson should always include the Evaluation Specialist and Licensed Specialist in School Psychology if behavioral issues are a concern, and/or speech therapist if language or speech is a concern in the IAT process before a special education referral is completed. However, no one person should make a unilateral decision to refer a student for Special Education/Section 504 evaluation or to refuse a referral for Special Education/Section 504 evaluation. All referral decisions must be made by IAT as a group.
Students suspected of a developmental delay, health condition, vision impairments, hearing impairments or an intellectual disability are most likely not good candidates for the RTI process. These students can be referred for special education evaluation without first attempting RTI.
Participants
The composition of an IAT is not specified in law. The team can include the following personnel:
Goals of IAT
Tiers of Intervention
Tier 1 –Core Instruction:
Tier 2 – Supplemental Interventions:
Tier 3 – Intensive Individualized Interventions:
Forms
Resources